New Testament Greek Online

Series Introduction

Winfred P. Lehmann and Jonathan Slocum

Greek has been important in the intellectual life of western civilization, but not to the extent of Latin, except
for ecclesiastical matters where it is obviously of major importance for determining the meaning of New Testament
texts. In years past, Latin was introduced in the first year of High School, followed by Greek
in the third year. The prominence of Greek for intellectual matters is evident in designations of subjects central
to university study, such as philosophy 'love of wisdom', philology 'love of words or more generally
study', theology 'study related to God', psychology 'study related to the soul or psyche', and so on.

The Greek in the New Testament is the so-called koine 'common language'. Based originally on the Greek of
Athens, it was circulated throughout Alexander the Great's empire. Languages acquired by many non-native speakers
are generally simplified, as was the koine. Morphological categories were lost, such as the dual and the
optative, though forms of them may occur in written texts. Sentences were greatly simplified, as noted below.
Yet many forms remain, especially for verbs.

A difficulty with Greek that may put off learners is the maintenance of an older form of the alphabet than that used
for Latin, English, and many other languages. Moreover, accentuation varies in Greek words, and in early Greek was musical.
While today accented syllables are pronounced with stress rather than tones, the older accents are still written [with ê
added for illustration]: ê for the okseia 'acute' accent or high pitch, ê for the perispômenon accent or
high-low pitch, and ê for the bareia 'grave' or falling pitch.

Furthermore, the sentence structure and number of forms require a great deal of attention. The words of sentences
are often placed for their emphasis, rather than in accordance with a pattern like that of the English Subject-Verb-Object
order. But we may note that the sentences of New Testament Greek texts are simpler to analyze than are those of
Classical Greek. The writers were strongly influenced by Hebrew and Aramaic, in which the verb is placed first in
the sentence and is often accompanied by particles, in Greek de and kai, which may also stand before the verb.
This sentence structure has had an effect on the translations into more modern languages, as in the King James
version: the first four verses of our first text, Luke 2, begin with And, as do verses 6 through 10.

Even with the simpler syntax, knowledge of the inflections is highly important. Interpretation is also assisted by
the use of articles which, like nouns, adjectives, pronouns and verbs, are inflected. It is essential, then, to learn
the basic inflections of these parts of speech.

Note: this set of lessons is for systems/browsers
lacking Unicode® support, or having less than full Unicode 2.0 font support.
Lessons rendered in alternate character sets are available via links
(Unicode 2 and Unicode 3)
in the left margin, and at the bottom of this page.

1. The Greek alphabet and pronunciation.

The Greek alphabet was taken over from the Semitic as used in the Phoenician area, which in turn was based on an
Egyptian alphabet. These were also used for the numerals, so that the order of the symbols was maintained, if changed at
times in sound value. This is true also of the Latin alphabet, which was based ultimately on the Greek alphabet; the 3rd
symbol, which represented [g] as in its name gamma, had the sound of [k] in Latin, as in words like car
or the proper name Cato. The symbols themselves, especially the small cursives, may also differ in form from
those of Latin and English, but on the whole the differences may readily be recognized. The alphabet is as follows:

a

b

g

d

e

z

ê

th

i

k

l

m

n

x

o

p

r

s

t

u

ph

ch

ps

ô

A

B

G

D

E

Z

Ê

Th

I

K

L

M

N

X

O

P

R

S

T

U

Ph

Ch

Ps

Ô

The [h] sound before a
vowel is signalled by a rough breathing sign [with o added for illustration]: ho. The rough breathing
may also be used with initial rho: hr. When using a Romanized transcription,
the order of the Roman alphabet is used for sequencing (unlike above); also, the h for rough breathing has an effect, and
Ê,ê (eta) and Ô,ô (omega) appear after e and o, respectively.

The names of the letters are as follows, in English and then in Greek:

Latin and thereupon English has maintained this order with modifications that are apparent from the different
sounds of the letters and the different names. The letter z was pronounced like the consonant in adze.
The letter x was pronounced like the consonant in ax. The letter ps was pronounced like the final consonants
in tops. The letters th ph ch were originally pronounced like the aspirated initial consonants in English
tan, pan, can as opposed to the unaspirated consonants in stan, span, scan; but they are usually
pronounced today like the initial consonants in than, fan and the consonant in German ach.

The vowels are pronounced as follows: a like the vowel of bot, e like that of bet, ê like
that of bait, i like that of beet, o like that of boat, u like that of bit, ô
like that of bought. The five vowels other than ê ô may be long or short. Unlike English, there are few
silent letters. Sentences, then, are read with every letter pronounced, as in the following quotations from Luke
1:46 and 1:68 --

Megalunei

hê

psuchê

mou

ton

kurion.

'Praise

(the)

soul

my

the

Lord'

'My soul doth praise the Lord.'

Eulogêtos

Kurios

ho

theos

tou

Israêl.

'Blessed

Lord

the

God

of-the

Israel'

'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.'

2. The vocabulary.

English and Greek belong to the Indo-European language family; their earlier versions separated from each other some
four thousand years ago. Words of the same origin are often disguised because of changes that have taken place in both
languages. For example, an initial [s] sound before vowels in Greek evolved into [h], as in (cf. English six)
Latin sex, Greek heks, written hex (cf. hexagon). The word corresponding to seven is written
hepta (cf. heptagon). Moreover the Indo-European consonants represented as bh, dh, gh evolved to ph,
th, kh -- ph, th, ch, as in phratêr 'brother'. New sounds have also been introduced in Greek with their own
letter in the alphabet, such as ê for the vowel corresponding to the [a] in hate, and x for the combination
[ks] as in six.

The greatest difference, however, may have resulted from a massive change of consonants in Germanic (hence English)
well before our era. The change was formulated by the great German scholar, Jakob Grimm, and is known as Grimm's law,
which is listed even in smaller dictionaries of English. At this time, p, t, k evolved into sounds that today are
represented by f, th, h. Among examples are: father, compare Greek patêr, three, compare Greek
treis, hundred, compare Greek hekaton, literally 'one hundred'. And the sounds represented by bh, dh,
gh in Indo-European were changed to the sounds that today are represented by b, d, g. These sounds were also
changed in Greek, as noted above. Among examples are English brother, compare Greek phratêr, door,
compare Greek thura, goose, compare Greek chên. At the same time, b, d, g were changed to p, t,
k. Among English examples are ten, compare Greek deka, kin, compare Greek genos. (Indo-European
had almost no words with b.)

It is interesting to compare such cognate words, but the changes that both languages have undergone often conceal
the relationships, as for the numerals for four and five. Some of the others are transparently related,
in spite of changes: one, Greek heis; two, Greek duo; three, Greek treis; four,
Greek tettares; five, Greek pente; six, Greek hex; seven, Greek hepta; eight,
Greek oktô; nine, Greek ennea; ten, Greek deka. Since dictionaries may provide the Greek
cognates of English entries, control over the Greek vocabulary can be gained by noting them. Etymological dictionaries
are of greater assistance.

As noted above, by far the greatest number of similar words are found in academic and ecclesiastical language,
where English simply took over the Greek terms through long influence on western culture from these spheres. Words
were pronounced in accordance with the English spellings, rather than with their pronunciation in Greek. Some examples
are cited here.

The academic terms are in accordance with the influence of Aristotle, who conducted his teaching in the Athenian
grove known as the Academy, which was named after the hero Akademos. We have already noted terms ending in
-logy, to which others might be added like biology and neurology. The last part attained
a status of its own, so that further words like sociology, with its initial part from Latin, could be introduced.
Moreover, the last part has a somewhat different function in the word doxology, 'giving words of praise'. Other
ecclesiastical terms are clergy, clerical, Eucharist and liturgy. In the political sphere
the words democrat and democracy are based on the components for people and power, as also in
aristocrat and aristocracy for the best or superior people and power, autocracy for self or
absolute power, theocracy for ecclesiastical power. Examination of the etymology or 'true meaning' of such
words will assist in gaining control of the Greek vocabulary.

3. The sentence structure of Greek.

As is clear from the earlier quotations, the sentence order of Greek may differ considerably from that of English.
In an earlier form of Greek, the verb was placed last in the sentence, but in Luke 1:46 its position is quite different.
The different position is possible because of Greek inflections. Greek can move elements around for stylistic purposes
-- as in Luke 1:46, giving emphasis to the verb.

In examining a Greek text, one should first identify the verb. Its forms are identifiable through their inflections,
with the additional help that nouns are often marked by preceding articles. In Luke 1:46, the ending -ei
indicates that the subject is in the nominative case. And the -ou endings indicate that mou and
tou Israêl are genitives. It is useful, then, to memorize the basic inflections of verbs as well as those of nouns,
pronouns, and adjectives.

As illustrated by these brief passages, the key to reading Greek is provided by knowledge of its inflections.
While these are numerous, memorization of the basic inflections of the article, of nouns and of verbs is generally
adequate.

4. The forms of Greek.

4.1 Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, the article.

Thee parts of speech are inflected for four cases, besides a case of address called the vocative. The cases are as
follows:

Nominative, the case of the subject;

Genitive, the case to indicate possession -- possessive, in grammars of English

Dative, the case of the indirect object

Accusative, the case of the direct object -- objective, in grammars of English

Case forms may also be determined by prepositions.

In English, only the nominative, genitive/possessive and accusative/objective have been maintained, and that only
in pronouns: I is nominative, my is genitive, me is accusative. Nouns simply have a nominative
and a possessive, as in dog, dog's. Adjectives are not inflected.

Greek nouns are also inflected for --

number, that is, singular and plural; Classical Greek also maintained a dual.

three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.

a large number of declensions.

Paradigms are given in the various lessons. For illustration here, forms of the article are shown in all three
genders, as well as the feminine noun for 'country' of the a-declension and the masculine noun for 'word' and
the neuter for 'gift' of the o-declension:

Fem.

Masc.

Nt.

Fem.

Masc

Nt

Sg. Nom.

hê

ho

to

chôra

logos

dôron

Sg. Gen.

tês

tou

tou

chôras

logou

dôrou

Sg. Dat.

tê

tô

tô

chôra

logô

dôrô

Sg. Acc.

tên

ton

to

chôran

logon

dôron

Pl. Nom.

hai

hoi

ta

chôrai

logoi

dôra

Pl. Gen.

tôn

tôn

tôn

chôrôn

logôn

dôrôn

Pl. Dat.

tais

tois

tois

chôrais

logois

dôrois

Pl. Acc

tas

tous

ta

chôras

logous

dôra

4.2 Verbs.

Like nouns, verbs have many inflections (though not all of the possible combinations below are realized):

Verbs are inflected for voice: active, middle, and passive. The middle indicates action directed at the subject;
this is often expressed in the lexical meaning itself. Verbs with a basically middle voice are known as deponents;
for example, gignomai means 'become, take place, be produced,' etc.

Verbs are inflected for mood: indicative, subjunctive, and optative, though as noted above the optative
has been virtually lost in New Testament Greek.

Verbs are inflected for tense: present, past (or imperfect), and future. Of these, there are three sets (again, not
in all combinations): the basic (or simple), the aorist, and the perfect. The past perfect is also called pluperfect.

In addition there are imperative forms, infinitives, participles, a gerund, and a supine. The imperative forms
are rare in written texts.

The present infinitive active may be illustrated by legein 'to say, speak'; the aorist is lexai. The present
infinitive middle is legesthai; the aorist is lexasthai. The passive infinitive is legesthai; the aorist is
legthênai. The present participle active is legôn, legousa, legon. The present participle middle and passive
is legomenos, legomenê, legomenon.

It should be obvious that the verb system of Greek is complex. The basic forms of irregular verbs are generally
listed in dictionaries.

4.3 The other parts of speech.

In addition to these parts of speech, Greek includes adverbs, conjunctions, interjections and prepositions.
Since their functions are comparable to those of their English counterparts, they will not be discussed here.

5. Examples of texts.

We assume that users of New Testament Greek Online may want to memorize selected passages. Accordingly, each
lesson includes one memory verse. Of all such passages, the Lord's Prayer may be the most highly preferred. Its
sentence structure is simple, so that each verse is easily memorized. We provide it here both as a sample of New
Testament Greek and for memorization. The Greek given here is that of Matthew 6:9-13; the Greek in Luke 11:2-5 is
somewhat different, although the King James version provides virtually the same English translation for the two.
The familiar conclusion, "For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever" is taken to be
a later addition, and is not provided in the Nestle edition nor in the Westcott and Hort edition of the Greek text.

Pater

hêmôn

ho

en

tois

ouranois;

O-father

of-us

he

in

the

heavens

'Our Father which art in heaven,'

hagiasthêtô

to

onoma

sou,

hallowed-be

the

name

of-you

'Hallowed be thy name.'

elthetô

hê

basileia

sou,

come

the

kingdon

of-you

'Thy kingdom come,'

genêthêtô

to

thelêma

sou,

be-done

the

will

of-you

'Thy will be done'

hôs

en

ouranô

kai

epi

gês;

as

in

heaven

also

on

earth

'in earth, as it is in heaven.'

ton

arton

hêmôn

ton

epiousion

dos

hêmin

sêmeron;

the

bread

of-us

the

daily

give

to-us

today

'Give us this day our daily bread.'

kai

aphes

hêmin

ta

opheilêmata

hêmôn,

and

forgive

to-us

the

sins

of-us

'And forgive us our debts'

hôs

kai

hêmeis

aphêkamen

tois

opheiletais

hêmôn;

as

also

we

forgive

the

sinners

of-us

'as we forgive our debtors.'

kai

mê

eisenegkês

hêmas

eis

peirasmon,

and

not

lead

us

into

temptation

'And lead us not into temptation'

alla

hrusai

hêmas

apo

tou

ponêrou

but

bring

us

away-from

the

evil

'but deliver us from evil.'

New Testament Greek Lessons

Note: there are great disparities in capability among personal computers in contemporary use. Unfortunately,
support for Unicode® and/or the
repertoire of fonts installed on your personal computer cannot be detected by a web server! Accordingly,
we have prepared multiple versions of each lesson; this set of lessons is for systems/browsers
for systems/browsers lacking Unicode support, or having less than full Unicode 2.0 font support.
(You may switch to other versions via links below.) Lessons:

Related Language Courses at UT

Most but not all language courses taught at The University of Texas concern
modern languages; however, numerous courses in ancient Greek, at both the
undergraduate and graduate levels, are taught in the
Department of Classics
(link opens in a new browser window).
Online language courses for college credit are offered through the
University Extension
(new window).